


Spectres In The Circuitry

by themidgardiansongstress



Series: 6901: A Grumpy Space Odyssey [5]
Category: Game Grumps, Space Grumps - Fandom
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-24
Updated: 2017-10-21
Packaged: 2019-01-04 21:32:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 15,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12176943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themidgardiansongstress/pseuds/themidgardiansongstress
Summary: Song reference: Paper Boats-Darren Korb and Ashley Barrett





	1. Prologue: I Will Always Find You (Like It's Written In The Stars)

**Author's Note:**

> Song reference: Paper Boats-Darren Korb and Ashley Barrett

First gasped as the blast of energy hit him, throwing him back against the wall of the medical room. 

He stood up, staring at Ultima in anger, ready to strike her down. But he felt his veins thrumming with power, his old, husk of a heart, a strange warmth radiating through him. He was suddenly aware of another reality, a wellspring of power emerge and pulsating through the layers of this reality from another. He stopped, wallowing in this energy, and he knew that a greater source of power was awaiting him.

“This isn’t over, Last Daughter. I will know you yet.” He disappeared, retreating back into his lair, a point that exists at the apex of existence.

He strode to the scrying pool, staring into it. “What is this power? Why-”

“You know what it is, First.” The blue goddess spoke into his mind, the blue crackling sparkles of energy moving around him.

He turned from his scrying bowl, turning to see the ghostly form of the blue goddess of creation crackled into existence. “Why now?” He asked.

“Because there are times when a goddess must intervene in the course of the universe.” She pointed at First. “You have been touched by the last daughter, you have been touched by her powers. You have some of the energy on you.”

First looked down at his hands, shocked that the burns there had healed over, the skin smooth and pale as it had been when he first emerged. “What is this?” He asked.

“You are regaining your strength. But she is too strong for you to approach, her mind too powerful, too cosmic. By the time you regain your original form, she will have absorbed all of the goddesses.” The blue goddess hummed, staring at her hands.

“I must heal. I want that energy that I felt.” He began.

“Of course. You have the strength to cross over into the universe where this energy resides, but you must hurry.” Blue continued.

First concentrated, his skin glowing with black light, his veins pulsating black. He gasped, throwing his arms up, pulling them apart as he peeled the layers of time and space apart, gazing into another universe.

He stepped through the portal, staring in awe and confusion at the source of the energy that he had been feeling. “This is where the energy was coming from?” He asked, staring at the source in confusion.

“This human is far stronger than you think.” Blue spoke through the shrinking portal at First. “You owe your existence to her. We all do.”

First stared at the young woman sitting before him. He knew she couldn’t see him, but he could see her. And he could feel her. He observed the long brown hair she had, skin paler still in the glow coming from her computer screen, the images she was staring at reflected on her glasses.

He felt nearly overwhelmed at the waves of energ flowing off of her. “How is she so powerful? Who is she?” He asked the blue goddess as he watched the portal closing.

“She is a young human woman, living in the year of 2016 on Earth.” First stared at the young woman’s face, trying to decipher her role in his future.

“What is her name?”

The blue goddess spoke the woman’s name, and First turned to the hman woman again, smiling as her turned the name over in his mind. He said her name aloud, and at the moment, the same name was spoken simultaneously in two different timelines.

In one, First spoke the woman’s name as he stared at her

In the other, Leigh gasped her name aloud as he woke up.

“Katelyn.” First grinned

—

“Keightlin!” Leigh gasped.

He scrambled out of bed, grabbing his sketchbook. He slammed it down onto the bedside table, frantically flipping to the half completed portrait of the strange blue alien he’d drawn. He tried to control his shaking hands as he filled in the gaps of her portrait, eyes and glasses filling out, a somewhat secretive smirk playing on her lips.

Once he finished the portrait, Leigh wrote her name on the corner of the page, next to his own name. “Keightlin.” He whispered. “Who are you?” He asked, sighing heavily. He shook his head, sighing as he closed the sketchbook, standing up to take a walk.

When he opened the door to his room, Leigh froze when he heard Ultima’s screams echoing in the hallway, followed by what he recognized as Arin’s raptilian screeching. He grabbed his blaster from his room, running towards Ultima’s room, terrified that she was being hurt.


	2. What Are You Guys Doing? (So I Gave Myself Over Willingly)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Song Reference-Various Storms and Saints-Florence and the Machine

EARTH, 2016

It was too easy for him.

Time passes so differently in separate timelines, like two parallel streams passing at different speeds towards the ocean. He didn’t notice that he’d been gone for four years from his original timeline, but he only spent five hours in Katelyn’s timeline, waiting to approach her.

He wouldn’t force himself on her. Even ancient fallen-gods-turned-demons understood that consent and respect was the most important aspect of seduction. He wouldn’t force her hand.

She had to submit herself willingly.

Soon, his time came. He’d slowly been gaining power, not from Katelyn, but from another being in this timeline. An artist, a woman who’d been writing out his tale, the tale of Ultima, of the Bombers.

It was too easy to go through this artist to get to Katelyn.

He reached out to this human, and he knew when he saw the look in her eyes that victory was within his grasp.

—

RAPTILIA, February, 6968

Leigh thundered down the hallway, holding his blaster in his hands as he kicked the door to Ultima’s room open.

“Leigh!” Ultima sat up, wrapping a sheet around herself. “What the fuck?” She asked, Arin turning to Leigh in confusion.

Leigh blinked, clear to him now that it was not what he thought it was. “Oh. You’re okay.” He tucked his blaster back in his belt. Then he tilted his head at them. “What are you guys doing?”

Ultima opened her mouth to speak, but Arin was clearly uncomfortable. “I’m not having this talk with Leigh. You can-” Arin began.

“I got it.” Ultima sighed.

—

Once she was dressed and washed up, Ultima sat Leigh down at the table in her room, trying to choose her words delicately.

“Okay, here it is. Arin and I were having sex.” She began.

“What’s that?” Leigh asked, eyes wide and innocent.

“It’s…” Ultima laughed. “It’s kinda hard to put into words. For me, at least. But I can give you the memories of it.”

Leigh blinked, nodding slowly. “Oh, sure, okay.”

Ultima took his hand, then paused. “Hold on, I’ve got an idea.”

—

“You want me to do wha?” Dan asked.

“I’m just gonna copy your memories of having sex and give them to Leigh.” She explained, Leigh looking curiously at Dan.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” He asked.

“Why not? He’s curious, and he’s gonna figure out what it is sooner or later.” He asked.

—

Ultima sat between Leigh and Dan, holding their hands in hers. Her eyes and veins glowed a bright green like and emerald neon sign, light pulsating from her heart out to her veins as the memories flooded into Leigh’s mind.

Once the transfer was done, Leigh merely sat there, subtly trembling. “Everything okay?” Ultima asked.

Leigh blinked, biting his. “I-can I get back to you on that?”

Ultima stood up, nodding to Leigh. “Sure. Take your time to-” Ultima gasped, falling to her knees. The four gems on her neck glowed, blasting a line of light into the distance, pointing towards the next gemstones.

“Ultima!” Dan knelt beside her, helping her stand up. “Where’s the next gem?”

“It’s…” She blinked. “A blue planet. In a…nightclub?”

Dan blinked down a her. “Are you fu-”  
“What’s a stripclub?” Leigh asked.

“No, nope, we’re not there yet.” Dan shook his head at Leigh. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leigh is just an innocent clone


	3. Searching And Reaching

Ultima blinked, staring into a bright white light as if engulfed her entirely. 

She gasped, feeling herself being ripped between what felt like two different places. She was distantly aware of Arin and Dan’s voice calling out to her as she rushed forward, breaking through into a dark room.

She was..floating, a blindingly white light engulfing her like some avenging angel. Ultima looked down and saw, to her shock, First.

But this was not the First that she had normally recognized. Firsts’ pale skin had been replaced by much healthier flesh, his burn marks completely gone. Now his skin was smooth and new, like he’d never been injured. His head sported a thick head of black hair, as dark as the deepest corners of the universe.

As she watched, First shifted his body, and Ultima saw a young woman in his arms, cradled against his chest. It then became clear to her that some soft of sex had just taken place, and that First was responsible.

Ultima searched the area for more clues as to where she was, and saw that there was nothing of note anywhere in sight, save for First and the woman lying on an altar.

Then the altar cracked open, revealing a portal into another…place? Either way, First moved to carry the young woman into the portal.

Ultima summoned up her strength, shouting out at First. “First! Unhand her!”

But the two of them disappeared into the altar, and Ultima’s vision shrank down into a small speck. The world sucked away from her, and she was thrown back into her own world.

—

Ultima gasped, bolting awake. Arin stared down at her, breathing a sigh of relief. “Oh good. You’re awake.”

“How long was I out?” She asked, rubbing her head as she sat up.

“Five hours. Precisely.” Arin looked down at his communicator.

“Well, thanks. Is…the Starbomb ready?” She asked.

“Ready when you are. Just…a few housekeeping things left to do.” Arin replied.

—

The Bombers were all assembled outside the Starbomb, moving their things into their old ship.

Ultima sighed heavily as she stepped out, overlooking the skyline of the kingdom of Raptilia. In the four years since they first arrived on the planet, the surface of it had drastically changed.

It was Ultima’s idea. After rebuilding the palace with her powers, she got to work, using the memories of the Raptilians that had returned to the planet to bring back the old structures of Raptilia.

Now, the city and the surrounding kingdoms had been restored to their former glory, and the Raptilians prospered.

“We’re ready to go!” Arin called from within the ship.

Ultima turned back to him, nodding as she walked back into the Starbomb.

—

Leigh looked around at the inside of the Starbomb, eye wide with childlike fascination. “You live here?” He asked Ultima, looking over at her.

She chuckled, crossing her arms. “Yeah. We all do. It’s tight living sometimes, but it’s more cosy than claustrophobic.”

Leigh smiled, biting his lip. “Right. So, uh, where am I gonna sleep?” He asked.

“I’m sure we can find a room for you. If not, there are some nice couches on the viewdeck.” She replied, walking toward the ShipGarden with him.

Leigh giggled, walking on with her. He bit his lip, looking down as he thought over something. “Can I ask you something?”

Ultima stopped, facing Leigh. “Yeah. What is it?”

He blinked, looking down shyly. “Those…memories that you gave me. The ones of you and Dan doing that…stuff together.”

“Go on. What about it?”

Leigh squirmed, blushing slightly. “I-I feel weird whenever I think about it. It’s like…I feel all warm. And my stomach starts doing flips and I just….”

“You feel like there’s a ball of fire moving from your stomach to your crotch?” She asked.

Leigh nodded. “It’s just…I don’t know what to do when I feel like that.”

Ultim sighed, chuckling. “There’s a pretty simple solution to that, but I’ll have to ease you into it.”

—

“You want to show Leigh what?” Dan asked in bewilderment.

“There’s no harm in showing him porn! We’ll just, make sure he gets enough water to stay hydrated, and that he takes breaks.” Ultima replied.

“I mean…” Dan sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I guess I can see that reasoning. But he gets his own laptop, or tablet, or whatever to use.”

Ultima smiled happily, walking away to talk to Leigh.

—

Leigh turned the medium sized device in his hands, biting his lips. “This is for me?”

Ultima nodded. Dan looked away uncomfortably, crossing his arms. “Do I have to be here for this?” He asked Ultima.

“Yes. I won’t show him how to-never mind.” She turned back to Leigh. “Go ahead, turn it on.” Ultima took Dan’s hand, leaving the room quickly.

—

Later that night, Leigh lay in bed, revisiting the memories that Ultima had given him. He squirmed uncomfortably, and sighed, turning to lay on his side. He spied the device on his nightstand with one eye, and reached out to grab it.

Leigh sat up against the headboard of his bed, turning the device on. He searched for the words in his mind, trying to find the right ones that would lead him to the results he wanted to see.

He tapped at the screen to enter the four letter word he had found in the annals of Dan’s memories. It led him to a rather salacious website of Xenophilia videos, the videos categorized by species of alien alphabetically.

He scrolled through pictures of various species of aliens in various compromising positions, feeling his face heat up as the blush crawled up his cheeks.

The whole world froze when he saw a picture of a blue skinned alien. With trembling hands, Leigh tapped on the name under the picture: Cinner.

Leigh immediately recognized the alien in the picture: it was the blue alien that he’d seen in the timelines Ultima had shown him, the blue skinned being he was sketching, the one he kept dreaming about.

Leigh bit his lip, exiting the salacious website to look up more information on Cinners.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure this will be okay.


	4. Transmission To Bones

Ultima turned in her sleep, trying to shake the strange sensation she felt.

Phantom hands seemed to grasp at her skin, like a  million ghosts trying to slip themselves under her skin. They began wrapping around her throat and she gasped, convulsing once and waking up, a sheen of cold sweat on her skin.

She sat up on the edge of her head, breathing heavily as she hugged herself, looking behind her at a peacefully sleeping Dan. Ultima sighed heavily, for a moment jealous of his ability to sleep so peacefully and for so long.

Ultima stood up, walking to the console in her room. Despite the archaic state of written mail, the message icon on the screen was still a tiny envelope that glowed softly wehn new messages came in. Ultima sat in front of the screen, tying her hair back from her face, opening the message, draping a blanket around her shoulders.

Jon’s face popped up on screen, the transmission coming in from Raptilia. “Hey Ultima, I tried calling Arin, but I guess he was asleep. Anyway, I figured I might as well submit a report to you.” Jon cleared his throat. “Negotiations with Terra are still strong. After the dismantling of the Delilah project,  Terra became a lot more open to peace talks with the Raptilians. Given how fast the cities were rebuilt, the Terrans could see that they were a lot more advanced than previously thought. Luckily though, Suzy’s endorsement of the Raptilians went a long way; turns out the Araneans are a pretty powerful family.” Jon scratched his face, thinking something over. “Oh! Mark is still in a coma. We’ve been trying to come at it from every angle there is, but Mark put up and impassable firewall on himself. It’s like….he knew what he did was wrong, and he wanted to erase himself completely. It’s just…” Jon shook his head. “We’ll figure it out.”

The transmission cut off, and Ultima sat back, nodding softly. It was nice to just have things going relatively well for now. She went back to bed, since it was still essentially midnight. She slipped back under the covers, turning to pull Dan towards her. Dan nuzzled his face into her neck, sighing in sleep as he curled around her.

She’d once joked to Dan that being hugged by him was like being hugged by a skeleton with hair. He’d laughed at it, one of the first times he’d freely laughed since being experimented on. She’d said it just a few weeks after she’d rescued him from the Terran facility, and the warmth that flooded his face gave her hope, his recovery going incredibly well.

Since then, Skeleton Man had been a term of endearment for Dan, and his face still brightened up whenever Ultima called him that.

Dan murmured in sleep, looking up at her lazily. “Hey.” He smiled, eyes still hazy and half closed from sleep.

Ultima kissed his forehead, running her fingers through his curly hair. “Hey skele-man.” She grinned.

Dan smiled widely, laying his head back against her shoulder. “Everything okay?”

She nodded, feeling that she could freely say that it was. “Yeah. Everything is actually okay for once.”

But even as she said this, Ultima felt a strange and lingering sense of unease forming at the base of her spine, at all places. Something was shifting in her timelines, and her yellow gem emitted a weak glow, but Ultima couldn’t see what had changed.

She fell into a dreamless sleep. The emptiness seemed familiar. 


	5. I Hear You

Ultima blinked, standing in the hallway as a group of figures walked towards her. 

The person they were dragging along seemed so familiar to her, and yet so strange that she couldn’t tell who they were.

“Stop! Let go of me! Let me-” Arin struggled with his hands tied behind his back, two figures with blurred faces pushing him forward.

They told him that he was going to be fine,but it was like their voices were far away and distorted, as if through a voice modulator. Ultima stared in shock as the man she loved was pushed into an surgery room. She ran forward to enter the room, the whole world shifting under her feet to slam her against a wall and then the floor, landing next to Arin on the floor.

The blinding floodlights of an operation room wash over Arin’s writhing body, the restraints doing little to contain his agony.

He wasn’t even screaming in words. His anguish twisted his voice until it seemed like the screams on the damned were pouring out of him. Ultima stood up, his pain stabbing through her like an icy knife, freezing her from the inside out.

She couldn’t bear to look away, so much as she wanted to, watching needles and medical equipment swarm Arin’s body, covering him in harsh, unfeeling metal, catching a flash of blood peeking out from behind the chrome shine every so often.

Ultima reached out to save him, the equipment moving away. Arin shivered, sobbing softly as bandages were applied to his cut up skin, blood shining in the light before a bandage was rolled over it. The table was wheeled away, and Ultima was utterly helpless to help him as she fell to her knees, sobbing.

—

Hours later, Ultima woke up, her mind all but forgot the dream. She listened in and heard the far off sounds of Leigh screaming in shock at something. She got up and walked over to his room, the door sliding open.

Leigh quickly pulled his pajama pants on, holding a pillow over his crotch. “I’m leaking!” He shouted at her, pointing at his stained sheets. Ultima looked down at the white stain, and laughed heartily.

“Leigh you’re fine. What are you freaking out about?” She asked, picking up the tablet he’d been looking at. All she had to read was two words from the video to understand what he’d been doing. “Cinners, huh? I didn’t know you were into non-human porn.”

Leigh blushed. “I just think they’re really pretty.”

Ultima nodded, closing the porn site to look up info on Cinners. “Have you looked up anything else about them?”

Leigh nodded. “They’re pretty open about it. Why do you ask?”

“You shouldn’t watch too much porn of them. It’ll distort how you see them as a species.” She reached into her pocket, pulling out a small blue mp3 player. “I was gonna wait to give you this, but I think you need it now.” She handed him the device, Leigh’s eyes widening. “Why-”

Ultima pulled up a library of albums on the mp3. “I just loaded up this mp3 player with the top 20 most popular albums in the galaxies and they were all cinner singers.” She chuckled as Leigh stared at it in wonder.

“I thought you might be curious. Now, go on and get dressed and head out. Barry has to activate a manual cleaning of your room.”

—

Leigh sat in the shipgarden on the grass, surrounded by glowing blue and purple flowers. He looked down at the mp3, earbuds firmly placed in his ears as he held his thumb over the play button on the first album. He took a deep breath and laid down on the gras, pressing play on the first song.

The notes lilted into his mind, weaving through the chaos of his thoughts. Leigh blinked slowly, his eyelids suddenly incredibly heavy. The song swam through his head and settled on his mind like gold dust, making everything hazy as his mind slowly went totally blank. Leigh’s face slowly broke into a dazed smile, the music making him feel so dazed, happy and unaware, the Cinner’s siren-like song soothing his mind into unaware blankness.


	6. Why Did You Do This (You Gave The Man Porn!?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan, please take this seriously.

Three days away from Cinner, Arin decided that it would be prudent to inform Ultima about everything they knew about Cinner.

“Do you want to have a meeting about it, or should you just tell me about it?” Ultima asked, scooping a spoonful of light blue substance into her mouth. It tasted like oatmeal but had the consistency of ice cream.

Arin rubbed his chin, scratching his beard. “I think it would be good to explain it out to you. It’s a lot to take in and it would be better to hear it from someone who’s actually been to the planet.”

—

Arin called a meetup with Dan, Leigh and Ultima in half an hour. Thirty five minutes later, Arin, Dan, and Ultima were waiting for Leigh in the debriefing room, Ultima pacing around the room nervously. “Where is he..” She muttered.

“I’m sure he’s gonna be here.” Dan shrugged, looking down at his hands.

“Barry? Where’s Leigh?” Arin asked, looking up at the ceiling.

“He’s in his room, and uh-” Barry paused, embarrassed. “You should go check on him.”

—

The three ran to Leigh’s room, despite the fact that Barry hadn’t said that Leigh was in danger.

Ultima whipped open the door to Leigh’s room, spying him across the room, sitting on a couch facing away from them. “Leigh?” Ulitma asked, walking up to Leigh. She stepped in front of the couch, staring at Leigh.

He had a dazed and happy expression on his face, blinking slowly as he stared up at the ceiling, his headphones on as Cinner music echoed and floated around his mind. She put her hand on h is shoulder, and Leigh finally looked down at Ultima, smiling happily at her.

“Are you okay, Leigh?” She asked.

Leigh nodded slowly, giggling. “I feel greeeaaaatttt…..” He giggled relaxing into the couch as the music hit a crescendo.

“What the fuck did you do to him?” Arin asked as she lifted Leigh up over her shoulder, hoisting him into a fireman carry.

“I just gave him some cinner music-” She began.

“What?” Arin asked, shocked. “Why?”

“He wanted to know more about sex, so I showed him some sites-” Ultima began.

“You gave the kid porn?” Arin asked, Dan holding back a chuckle as he covered his mouth to keep from laughing.

“He was watching too much Cinner porn, so I gave him some CInner music to keep him from over sexualizing them-” She began again.

“You gave the kid CINNER porn?” He asked again, his voice bewildered and a little shocked.

Dan couldn’t help it, and doubled over in laughter, their humor of this situation finally breaking through his facade.


	7. You Give Me Carpal Tunnel Syndrom <3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤♥❥❤

Leigh waded through a haze, moving through a blurry expanse as his mind returned to consciousness. He blinked, rubbing his eyes as light filtered into his eyesight. He blindly reached around for his bedside table, searching for his music, or even his laptop.

Leigh’s eyes snapped open. This wasn’t his bedroom.

“Oh thank goddess, you’re awake.” Leigh heard Ultima say. He turned his head, looking around the room to see Ultima sitting on the other side of the cot.

“Whe-” He began.

“The medical wing. You were…running low on bodily fluids.” She looked away. “You needed to get out of your room.”

“Why?” He asked. Ultima looked up from her communicator, having just sent a message to Dan and Arin.

“Leigh, you…” She sighed, running a hand through her hair. “You have an addiction.” She began.

“A problem? What?” He asked, tilting his head curiously.

She looked up at the door, standing up as Dan and Arin walked into the medical wing. “Now that everyone’s here, we can get started.”

Arin leaned up against the wall across from Leigh’s cot, Dan sitting next to Ultima. “What is this?” Leigh asked, sitting up and hugging his knees to his chest.

Ultima sighed heavily. “Leigh, how often do you-”

“Oh, that…” Leigh blushed, looking down and relaxing. “I dunno, I watch videos and…that, like, I dunno, five times a day?”

“And how often do you listen to Cinner music?” She asked, hiding her surprise.

“Oh, pretty much whenever I can.” Leigh giggled, biting his lip before pouting at her. “Where’s my music?”

“Leigh, you need to cool it with the porn.” Dan replied. “I normally don’t care what you do in your bedroom, but this is starting to hurt you.”

“What do you me-” Leigh asked, Ultima leaning in and grabbing Leigh’s right hand. She showed him his hand, pressing her thumb against the crook of his wrist and his palm. Leigh gasped , shocked by the strange clicking sound that echoed in the room when she pushed on his bones.

“Leigh, bones are not supposed to sound like this. You’re actively hurting your hands by doing this so often.” Ultima explained, dropping Leigh’s hand as she moved back.

Leigh looked down at his hand, biting his lip. “So, what do I-”

“Just…take a break from the porn.” Arin explained, standing up. “At least until we get to Cinner. We’re about three days away from the planet, so you have three days.”

Leigh gasped, his face collapsing in shock. “Three days? I can’t go three days without-”

His protests were soon quieted once Ultima placed her hand on his shoulder. “Look, this is honestly for your own good. There’s…way more in this life than just those videos.”

Leigh nodded, looking at Ultima. “So, since we’re going to Cinner…”

“What, you want to meet a cinner?” Ultima asked, Arin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Leigh nodded, looking over at Arin. “Yeah, I’d like to actually meet a real cinner. Do you know any?”

Arin chuckled. “Unfortunately, yes, we do.”

Leigh’s face brightened, a smile breaking across it. “Really?”

Arin nodded. “She’s a bio-robotics expert, and she seems to know a little bit about everything.”

“She?” Leigh asked.

Arin nodded, turning to his communicator. “Barry, set up a comm line with Keightlin Jaxxa.”

Leigh’s smiled widely, grabbing a pillow and hugging it tightly to his face, a muffled, high pitched sound of excitement coming from Leigh. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that chapter summary doesn't look bad.


	8. That's What Leigh (He) Said

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How To Play spoons: http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Spoons-(Card-Game)

It wasn’t too difficult to cut Leigh off from the videos and the sites-it was a simple programming switch on the ship computer, and he was no longer able to access those sites. As for how Leigh handled the situation…

Leigh walked into the kitchen, sitting down at the kitchen table for breakfast. Ultima sat next to him, bringing over breakfast for the both of them. “How are you holding up?”

Leigh grimaced over at Ultima at the unintended innuendo. “Come on, really?”

She blushed, biting her lip. “Sorry, how are you doing?”

Leigh shrugged. “Just reading. I looked up a ton of little old Earth games I can play on my tablet, so that’s what I’ve been spending most of my time doing.”

Ultima nodded, reaching over to take his hand. “Hey, let’s just take a walk today. You sound like you need some face to face contact.”

—

Ultima and Leigh walked around the ship, making their way over to the ViewDeck. “So, why do you watch so much of it?” She asked, sitting down on one of the couches.

Leigh sat across from her. “I, I guess I want to learn how to do it right…” He blushed.

Ultima shook her head. “Leigh, you can’t learn how to do it from a video.”

“I can’t?” He asked.

“No, you just have to try it out with someone else.” She shrugged. Leigh nodded, thinking it over.

“So, do you want to help me figure out how to do it?” He asked.

Ultima stared at Leigh. “I-see, I would but…I-” She bit her lip. “What about the cinner we’re gonna meet soon? You could ask her to show you.”

Leigh bit his lip, looking down. “What if she doesn’t like me, though? I only have one eye, and she might think that’s gross…”

“Hey…” Ultima scooted over to Leigh. “I think your eyepatch makes you look like a badass.”

Leigh blinked at Ultima. “I-it does?” He asked hopefully, not sure what she meant.

She nodded. “It’s a sign that you’re not to be messed with, like you’e seen some shit.”

Leigh nodded, blushing over at Ultima. “Like I’m strong?” He asked.

“You are strong, Leigh. Not many beings can survive what you survived.” She smiled, taking Leigh’s hand. “You’ll be okay.”

Leigh nodded, looking down at Ultima holding his hand. He couldn’t help the excitement showing in his face.

—

Later on, Leigh and Ultima were hanging out with Dan, where Leigh and Dan were discussing the finer points of pornography.

“So, cinners…would you call that your kink?” Dan asked nonchalantly.

Leigh blushed. “Kink?”

“Something that you’re really into sexually.” Ultima replied, dealing out the cards to the rest of them.

Leigh blushed harder. “Oh, yeah, I guess they are.”

“So what is it about cinners that you like specifically?” Dan picked up his cards, fanning them out so that he could get a better look at them.

Leigh thought for a moment, looking at his cards. “How nice they are.”

“Nice?” Ultima asked, placing two sticks of metal in the center of the trio. She started passing one of her cards to the side, Leigh picking it up as well.

“Yeah. After they’re finished, the cinner will always pull the other person in and ask them if they’re okay, if they need anything, it just…” He blinked, trying to focus on the card game as he spoke. “Feels like they really care about their partners…”

“It makes sense that you would like that comfort.” Dan replied, moving his cards out of his hand. “You want to feel safe, yeah?”

Leigh nodded. “I just like that they care about how their partners feel.” He moved the cards into his hand, placing another down and cautiously grabbing one of the metal sticks in the middle of the group.

Ultima nodded. “That’s important. Arin does the same thing after we finish. He goes from dominating and growly to really caring and gentle. He really cares about how I feel afterwards.”

Dan looked over at her briefly. “And you do that for me too, actually.” He grabbed the last metal stick in the center of the group.

UltIma looked over at Dan. “Of course I care about you. You’ve been through literal hell, and I can do something about it to help you.” She looked down at the center of the group, realizing that she had lost. “Oh, fuck you guys.” 


	9. How Do I Flirt?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apparently not like that.

They were now two days away from Cinner, and Leigh found that discussing his feelings about Cinners out loud was enough to distract him, and actually heped ebb his drive to know himself at night.

The next morning, Leigh and the rest of the Bombers were talking to Leigh about Cinners, trying to prepare him for his first meeting with Keightlin Jaxxa.

“She will flirt with you. That’s an inevitability with everyone she meets.” Arin began, folding his hands together in front of his face.

“Flirt?” Leigh asked, confused.

“It means that she’s gonna show semi-romantic interest in you. You can flirt back with her if you want.” Ultima smiled at Leigh. Almost instantly, the entire group sans Ultima and Leigh rushed to shout their disapproval.

“If you flirt back, she’ll lock onto your scent and won’t let up until she gets into your pants, Leigh.” Arin explained.

Leigh bit his lip. “But…I wanna flirt back…because I think I’m in love with her.” Leigh replied happily.

“How can you say that, you’ve never even met her!” Barry replied.

Leigh shook his head. “I have though….in my dreams.”

“That’s a good line.” Dan chuckled.

“But it’s true.” Leigh replied honestly.

“I think it would be a good idea for you to learn how to handle flirting…” Ultima began.

“Okay. How do I-” Leigh began.

“I can show you, it’s fine.” She sat to face Leigh. “Let’s run through a couple scenarios, I’ll be Keightlin, you be yourself, and we’ll see how it goes.”

—

Arin later gave Ultima some examples of various phrases that Keightlin had said or done to flirt with the Bombers at some point during their interactions with them.

Ultima flipped through the scenarios, chuckling softly. “I’ll say this much for her, Keightlin certainly has a silver tongue on her.”

Arin chuckled like someone laughing through a stomach ulcer. “That’s one way of putting it.” The Bombers had assembled in the ViewDeck, sitting on the couches while Ultima and Leigh stood up to run through the conversations.

“Okay, ready.” Ultima set the tablet aside, crossing her arms and facing Leigh. “Let’s start.”

Leigh nodded, and mimed the motion of walking up to Keightlin. “Hi Keightlin, I’m Leigh.” He greeted innocently.

Ultima sashayed up to him, both hands on her hips as she walked up at him. “Well, Leigh, you better get used to saying my name…” She grinned, moving to tuck a strand of hair behind Leigh’s ear as she leaned in to that same ear, whispering into it. “Because you’re going to be screaming it tonight.”

Leigh shuddered, moaning softly as his knees went weak. “O-okay.” He nodded eagerly.

“I’m gonna have to stop you right there.” Arin stood up. “Look, no matter how much you like Keightlin, you shouldn’t give in to sex immediately.”

Leigh blinked in confusion. “But what if I want to?”

“Self control.” Ultima shrugged. “In my experience, it’s better to learn about any potential partners before you have sex with them. Just, build that personal connection first, okay?” She replied to Leigh.

Leigh nodded, thinking it over “W-will I have time to talk to her after we meet her?”

“Of course.” Ultima smiled. “You can talk to her while we’re looking for the blue gem on Cinner.”

Leigh nodded. “Okay. I-I think I get how to flirt back now.”

“Let’s hope so.” Dan smirked under his breath, still amused by how easily Leigh gave in. “Someone who has had the least experience out of all of us, up against a Cinner? Should be interesting…”

“One more day.” Arin replied. “One more day.”


	10. Hi I Love You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Won't you tell me your name? Or: In which Leigh fails spectacularly at the one thing he was not supposed to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the sudden hiatus, real life responsibilities took top priority for a couple days, but we are back on schedule!

The day before they arrived on Cinner was largely uneventful. Leigh mostly napped, seeing as how they didn’t feel ready to give him back any of his videos yet.

—

The Starbomb docked on Cinner that night, and Arin passed out sall gas masks for the mouth and nose. “What’s this for?” Ultima asked.

“It’s a gas mask. Until you get acclimated to the atmosphere on Cinner, the air is toxic to a point. Most humans can adjust to it now, but to avoid illness it’s better to just wear a gas mask at the start.”

—

The Bombers left the ship, walking out onto a blindingly blue planet. It was like someone had taken a can of spray paint in varying shades of blue to and old Earth forest, everything from the trees to the grass and even the water was dyed in a rainbow of blue. “Oh goddesses, this place is so blue.” Ultima sighed.

“It’s…nice.” Dan whispered, looking around the planet. Leigh was too starstruck to say anything.

They walked over to the only structure visible on the planet, a building that seemed to be built into the side of a large blue mountain on Cinner. Soft blue, purple and green lights pulsated along the edges of the angular building, a kind of beacon for a very specific set of people on Cinner.

Leigh stared at the building. “Is that-”

Arin nodded, sighing heavily. “That, unfortunately, is Galactit, the most popular club in the galaxy, about.”

—

“So you’re the Bombers?” A blue skinned Cinner asked, her tentacled hair pulled back in a kind of self contained ponytail, bizarre and fantastical all at once. Leigh couldn’t stop staring at her, but he knew this wasn’t Keightlin.

“Yeah. How did-” Ulitma began.

“She’s been expecting you. Here, put these on.” She passed around some strange headsets that covered one’s ears and also covered the glasses with a strange tinted lens. “They’ll negate the effects of the cinner song and the visual hypnosis inside. She’s waiting for you all in the back.”

With an audible groan from most of the group, the Bombers walked into the bar, thankfully saved from the effects of the insanity occurring inside.

At least, that’s what it would look like at first. Screens posted up along the walls showcased elaborate animated spirals,  the speakers pulsing out soft, binaural sounds of cinner music, the songs and voices echoing around the walls as soothing lights blinked and fazed around them. Leigh looked around, something in his mind squirming at the sight of the spirals, struggling against the effects of the glasses.

Ultima took his hand, distracting Leigh from the sight of the spirals. “Leigh, don’t.”

Leigh nodded, looking down as they walked on to the room where Keightlin was.

—

They walked on through the first floor of the club before they entered one of the adjoining rooms attached to the main part of the club.

For the moment, it was empty, and the sounds of the club played distantly as they explored the room. “She should be here by now, shouldn’t she?” Arin asked as he looked around the room.

“You didn’t tell me you were traveling with innocents.”A smooth voice sounded from behind the group. Leigh turned around the fastest, looking at Keightlin as she crossed her arms, a little smirk playing on her lips.  

“I love you.” Leigh blurted out, whipping off his helmet, staring at Keightlin.

“Ah, shit.” Ultima sighed, covering her face with her hand.


	11. Wanna Play? (Uh, No, No, I Need An Adult, Please, Just Someone Come Collect Me)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reference for this chapter title comes from Scarfulhu's excellent Phantasmagoria 2 Video: https://youtu.be/xx-Mj2gxiU8?t=12m38s

“So you just need a guide to lead you up to the blue gem?” Katelyn asked, lounging on  the couch in the room. She had one arm lying on her lap, the other stretched out across the back of her couch.

“Yeah. We can pay you, obviously.” Arin replied, crossing his arms as he looked at Katelyn. They all stood awkwardly, none feeling comfortable enough to sit with her. Ultima had a vice like grip on Leigh’s arm, holding him back from running to Keightlin.

“That’s fine. We can leave in the morning if you meet me here tomorrow. You guys can head out if you have to, but the club is pretty cool if you decide to stick around.” The bluish purple lights in the room accentuated her more than anything else, and Leigh ached to go to her.

The Bombers turned to head out, Leigh unmoving after the rest of them had left. Ultima shook her head when Arin tried to go and grab Leigh.

Leigh merely stood there, in the room with the pulsating lights as he stared at Keightlin.

Keigtlin patted the couch next to herself, inviting Leigh to sit. He hurried over to her, sitting down and blushing softly. “That was quite a way to introduce yourself to me” She chuckled, watching Leigh fidget next to her.

“You’re just really pretty, and..” He paused, thinking over the name she’d called him earlier. “What did you mean by innocent?”

“Oh, that’s just what cinners call someone who’s never had sex, or whose just inexperienced in general.” She shrugged.

“Oh, but I just…:” Leigh blushed again. “I’ve listened to Cinner music and I’ve watched a lot of your stuff…”

“So you’ve seen the porn, huh?” She chuckled. “That must have given you some wild expectations.” She shook her head, laughing gently.

“But, I wanna learn! I wanna, you know, do stuff.” HE admitted.

“Like what?” She asked, cupping his chin in her hand to make him look at her.

Leigh blushed deeply, blinking at her. “I-I don’t know…”

“Let’s get to know each other a bit first.” She wrapped an arm around Leigh, standing up to lead him over to a small nest of pillows nearby. “We can cuddle for now if you want to do that.”

Leigh blinked, nodding slowly as he walked over to the pillows with her. “Ok, okay!” He smiled gently. In his head, stars were exploding.


	12. The Benefits Of Harmonizing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Musical therapy, but ~In the Future~

Ultima wasn’t typically one for the dance floor, not with how much she’d been planning, how much she knew now about her own fate. She stood outside the Starbomb, watching the lights from Galactit flickering on the gentle waves of the sapphire blue sea.

Unexpectedly, Keightlin emerged from the building, Leigh in tow. He stared at her the way he’d initially stared at Ultima. Though Ultima knew that her face was the first that he’d ever seen when he was created, she was relieved to see that he’d already formed a strong enough bond with Keightlin.

Keightlin kissed his cheek and Leigh giggled, his face flushed a deep red as he placed his hand over the spot on his cheek that Keightlin had kissed. He walked back into the ship, looking very pleased with himself.

Ultima smiled to herself, turning back to Keightlin. “Thanks.” She replied.

Katelyn blinked. “What do you mean by that?”

“For helping Leigh out. He’s apparently seen you in his dreams, and he’s just been through a lot of shit.” She sighed.

Keightlin arched an eyebrow. “Looks like you have, too.”

“How do you figure?”

“I sang to Leigh, and asked him to tell me about you, and he just rambled about you. You’re the Daughter of the Cosmos, aren’t you?”

“You know about the Goddesses?” Then Ultima caught herself, and chuckled, shaking her head.

“I know a little bit about everything. But the Goddesses…that’s something I really wish I knew less about sometimes.” She replied, looking down at her red robotic arm.

“How did you lose your a-” Ultima began.

“Arm? After my Manifestation, I went up to the pillar where the Blue Goddess is, where her gem is. I knew that it was a source of power, but I was curious. I reached out to touch it, and then my arm started crystallizing. I managed to pull away by the time it got up to my shoulder. When I did, my arm shattered and well. All that was left was to make myself a robotic arm. The red contrasts nicely, doesn’t it?”

Ultima nodded. “I’m sorry she did that to you.”

Keightllin bit her lip, placing her hand on her chin. She hummed to herself as she observed Ultima, ruminating about what she could do to help her. “You know, don’t you.”

“About what?” She opened her eyes.

“About what will happen to you once you find all the gems. All the goddesses, and all of their destructive sides. They’re pulling you apart, aren’t they?”

She let out a deep sigh of relief. “They are. I have centuries of knowledge inside me, four different voices moving inside of me and it just-” She looked at Keightlin. “I just want some time for my mind to be my own again.”

Keightlin gently squeezed Ultima’s shoulder. “You know I can sing to you, right?”

“Right, Cinner music. Leigh likes listening to that a lot.” She smiled softly. “Why do you bring it up?”

“Cinner music works a lot like…I guess you would think of them as Sirens. Anyway, the point is that I can just hypnotize you and just melt the goddesses away for at least a moment.”

Ultima was tempted to accept the offer, but shook her head. “No, I should…I should be present in my own head, most of the time.”

“So you don’t have any way to relax at all?” Keightlin asked, tilting her head to the side.

“I mean, other than sex, but during that-”

“You’re in control?” She asked.

“Yeah, and not really. But it’s only because of Dan and Arin. I give in to Arin because I trust him, I know him.”

“And Dan?”

“I help move him.” The orange gem on her neck glittered for a moment. “I can move water, and-”

“Oh right, the orange goddess. So you move the water in his blood to move him around?”

“Yeah, exactly. When I can focus it on someone I love, I got better at mastering the ability to move water.”

“You got more confident.” Keightlin smiled.

“Yes! Exactly, exactly.” Ultima paused, looking down and biting her lip.

Keightlin hummed to herself again, and Ultima felt the edges of her consciousness melt gently. Then Keightlin snapped her fingers and came to attention again. “I can show Dan how to use a siren voice!”

Ultima blinked. “You can do that?”

“Definitely.” Keightlin grinned.

—

The process of helping Dan utilize his siren voice ended up being pretty easy. All Keightlin had to was to give Dan a small lapis lazuli earpiece, which would then amplify the more hypnotic qualities of his voice.

—

Ultima sat on the couch of her room, looking out at the Cinner sea. She realized now that she didn’t particularly like being alone. It was when the Goddesses became the loudest. Dan shuffled into the room, holding the small lapis lazuli earpiece. “Hey.” Dan greeted.

Ultima turned to Dan, smiling softly. “So, Keightlin showed you how to sing with the-”

“The siren singing? Yeah, I just have to wear this earpiece.” He sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Why do you want to escape, though? Why do you want to just stop thinking?”

She hadn’t expected him to ask, she wasn’t ready to explain herself. “I can see every possibility for the future. Every choice we make, everything that happens, all of its’ effects. I see it all, all at once, and it’s driving me insane.” She held her head, squeezing it to get the headache out. “Every goddess, talks to me. It’s like I’m not alone inside my own head anymore.”

“So you just want to sleep?” He asked, rubbing her arms gently.

“I want a break from my mind. I want to lose myself, but to someone I love. You’ve…got what I need. Your voice.” She explained.  
Dan nodded, kissing her forehead. “Okay. What song do you want me to sing?”

She bit her lip, closing her eyes. “That unicorn song you sang last time.”

Dan put the earpiece on and leaned in to Ultima’s ear, kissing her temple. As he sang into her ear, Ultima felt his voice warm her mind. Like slivers of ice, each goddess’ influence pulled away until all that was left were her own thoughts, unencumbered by their influence. Her consciousness relaxed into Dan’s voice, falling into him like a feather landing on the surface of a pond.

Dan pulled back, looking down at Ultima. “How are you?” His words fell against her mind as if they were made of mere puffs of cotton.

“Te amo, Dan.” She mumbled, laying her head on Dan’s shoulder, closing her eyes. “Te agradezco a ti.” 


	13. A Lunar Interlude (The First God In Love)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, The First God made me write this, okay? He's an egotistical smartass.

There exists a planet called Telos in the same galaxy as Cinner. It has been long abandoned, mainly because of the fact that it houses the Fits, small firefly like creatures that glow red as they travel through the forests of Telos. That, and the blood red sea is largely uninviting to most who would decide to travel there.   
This made it the perfect place for First to bring Katelyn. Though he’d had any number of lovers across the centuries, he’d never been able to hold onto any of them with a body of his own. Whatever this energy was that had healed him, he was indebted to Katelyn for it. The most he could do was bind her life to his. He was, to the end, a selfish being no matter what.

While Telos didn’t have a moon to strictly speak of, a chunk of moonstone circled the whole of the planet, gleaming in the sky like a silver locket. First stared up at the satellite as he got a carriage ready for his and Katelyn’s trip up to the highest peak of Telos. There lay an altar there that the moon would align with in a few days. First knew that that would be where he had to be to bind Katleyn’s life to his own.

They were ready soon enough, and they began their ascent up the mountain of Telos.

—

Ultima stood outside the StarBomb the next morning, nervously rubbing the gems decorating her neck as she watched the Bombers getting ready for the climb up to the cave where the blue gem was.

Dan cleared his throat, reaching up to rub her shoulder. “Hey, are you doing alright?”

“What, after last night?” She asked, looking back up at him. “I’m realy good. What you did really helped me out.”

Dan rubbed the back of his head. “I guess I just never really considered what you’re going through with the goddesses. I thought they were just gems.”

Ultima shrugged. “I don’t talk about it a lot.” She looked back up at him. “I should, though. I don’t talk about this…burden I carry enough.”

“Hey, come on, it’s not a burden!” Dan hugged her tightly. “You’re gonna be okay, you’re so goddam strong.”

She relaxed into his arms, looking up at him after resting her chin on his chest. “I know. It’s just exhausting to have so many other people in my own head.”

“We’re ready to go!” Arin called out, breaking Ultima out of her self reflection.

Ultima looked back to Arin and the other Bombers, Leigh hovering around Keightlin as she waited patiently for Ultima.

Ultima looked to the forest, and for a moment, the image of a blackened forest was superimposed over her own vision, an ominous chill overcoming her. She also saw First climbing into a carriage drawn by no horses. As quickly as it had appeared, the flash of a vision of dark forest disappeared back to the blue trees or Cinner.

“Ready to go?” Keightlin asked, staring intently into Ultima’s face. 

Ultima nodded, shaking the sinking feeling from her head. “Yeah. Let’s go.”


	14. What Am I Even Looking At Here?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure it's fine. It's fine. Everything's fine!

Ultima was ultimately unaware of the parallel trips happening on two surprisingly similar planets. The Bombers began scaling the mountain on Cinner, the first two miles easy to ascend thanks to the stairs built alongside Galactit. By noon, they now had to rely on Katelyn to lead them up the summit of the mountain.

Despite the steep climb, none of them lost their footing. At one point they were faced with a vertical wall, jutting up into the sky at a perfect ninety degree angle. “You’ve got to be-” Ultima began before Keightlin took a running leap, jumping up and landing on the wall with her feet planted firmly on it. The gravity had shifted, and Kately was now walking up the stone wall with her hair following the shift. She looked back at the bombers.

“The gravity of the planet shifts when you climb up vertical surfaces.” Keightlin explained, reaching down to help Leigh up the side of the wall. The rest of the bombers climbed up the wall, walking for about an hour before it was decided that it would be prudent to set up camp for the night.

Ultima looked around the campfire, drinking a small ration of what tasted and looked like tomato soup. She dipped a small, bread-like chunk of ration into the soup. She chewed thoughtfully, looking at the small orange fire that burned at the center of camp. Most of the bombers were off in their own separate conversations. Holly was updating Ross’ software, Kevin and Suzy were discussing the finer points of running a kingdom, Brian was sitting statue like as a sentry at the edge of camp, Keightlin and Leigh were wrapped up in a conversation, Leigh staring at Keightlin in much the same way the innocent-hearted clone had stared at Ultima when he first awoke.

Arin sat beside her, tail instinctively curling around her waist. “How are you doing?” He asked, rubbing her shoulder.

She started, startled by Arin’s sudden approach. She bit her lip, looking down. “I-I’m fine. Something weird happen-” She paused, staring at Arin as he disappeared, her environment completely changed.

She now sat on a blackened tree trunk, the forest around her like something out of Tim Burton’s fever dreams cranked up to eleven. She stood up, staring at the forest around her. Small red firefly like aliens flitted around the forest, floating up to her curiously. She batted them away, something sinister in the way they twinkled around her. A soft rumbling sounded in the nearby forest, and the red fireflies retreated quickly, fish in the presence of a shark.

A small carriage moved up through the forest, voices coming from inside the carriage as she watched it stop. For a moment, she swore she could hear Firsts’ voice coming from the carriage. Then the edges of her vision disintegrated, and she was plunged into darkness.

—

Voices swam through the ocean of unconsciousness, reaching Ultima as she was slowly pulled forward into the waking world.

She blinked, staring up into Arin’s concerned eyes. “What happened?”

Ultima sat up, looking at the fire in the center of camp. “I-I saw something.”

“What did you see?” Keightlin asked, crouching next to Ultima.

Ultima bit her lip. “A forest, blackened by fire? I don’t know, and there were these, trees that looked like they were charred black but…alive.”

Keightlin blinked. “Why would you be seeing visions of that planet?”

“What planet? That’s a place?” She asked.

“A sister planet. Long abandoned. Why you’re seeing it…” Keightlin paused, biting her lip. “Try not to think of it so long.”


	15. Before The Blue (Let Me Tell You A Tale)

The rest of the climb up the mountain was largely silent, at least for Ultima. 

Every now and then, she’d catch glimpses of blackened trees, the lovely blue or Cinner obscured by the menacing forests of this other planet.

Arin and Dan trailed behind her, out of her earshot, and they finally brought up the elephant in the room.

“She’s been hiding something from us, hasn’t she?” Dan asked in a voice thick with worry.

Arin bit his lip, looking down. “She has her reasons for doing that.”

“But aren’t you scared?”

“Of course I’m scared. I’m terrified.” He stopped, tail swishing nervously behind him. “She’s never said what will happen when she gets all the goddesses, when she’s fulfilled her purpose for them.” His voice was rising, growing louder and faster as he spoke. “How do we know the Goddesses won’t use her and then toss her aside like First? Or like Sicario?” He was screeching now, fury and anguish at the thought of losing Ultima infecting his voice.

“Arin!” Dan cried out, grabbing Arin by the shoulders. “Don’t you think I’m scared for that too?”

Arin blinked, staring at Dan with wide eyes. He closed his eyes tightly, refusing to cry. The rest of the bombers and Ultima had moved on, leaving the two men behind in the Cinner, alone in their anguish. “Dan-”

“You know that she’d die to save us, that’s the kind of person she is!” Dan muttered quietly, looking down as he let go of Arin, sniffing. “She would die for us. She would die for us…” She whispered, wiping his eyes. “But I can’t lose her.”

“Dan…” Arin reached out to Dan, wrapping his arms around Dan. Dan shuddered against Arin’s chest, sobbing harshly as he curled into Arin’s hug.

They stood there in silence for a while, Arin not letting himself cry as Dan broke down in his arms, slowly coming to the realization that they might still lose Ultima.

—

The First God took his human love up the mountain on Telos, watching with a wary eye as the moon moved slowly to its’ zenith above the mountain.

The carriage they were riding in stopped, and First looked up, pleased that they had reached their first destination. He grinned. Cinner wasn’t the only planet that housed tentacle growths…

—

Ultima stopped, looking into the distance on Cinner, eyes unfocused as a slow blush crept up on her cheeks.

“What do you see?” Keightlin asked, looking over at Ultima.

“T-tentacles. Like the ones here, but..” She shook her head as the vision flickered out of existence. “They were black.”

Keightlin nodded. “The Telos tentacles.” She sighed, settling down to set up camp for the night in a clearing. “Sit around the fire, I’ll tell you more about it.”

—

Once the bombers had all caught up to the camp, Dan and Arin included, they settled down around the fire, eating a simple dinner while Keightlin told them about the connection between Telos and Cinner.

“There are stories, of course, that say that Cinner and Telos were once one planet. Other stories have Cinner acting as Telos’ moon, and vice versa. No matter what you believe, one thing is certain: Cinner and Telos are intrinsically connected.”

“How so?” Ultima asked.

“Cinners believe that physical contact and emotional contact and building connections to other people is a good way to strengthen relationships, whether they be familial or with significant others and such.”  
“What about the people from Telos?” Leigh asked softly.

“Nothing…leaves Telos. If Cinner is a warm, soft bed where you will be safe, inviting you in, Telos is a venus fly trap-a plant that looks pleasant enough before it grabs a hold of you and destroys you.”

Her words sent a shiver through the group, but mainly Leigh and Ultima. “What does that mean?” Leigh asked curiously, staring at Keightlin with a wide eye.

She looked over at Leigh, placing a hand on his cheek. “You’re too innocent to hear about it, but I won’t deny you the truth.” She sighed. “Telos absorbed all of the most destructive aspects of sexuality and desire. Nearly every inhabitant of Telos uses your desires against you, responds to them in order to destroy you.”

“Nearly?” Ultima asked.

Keightlin nodded. “Some of the more…friendly creatures of Cinner survive on Telos.”

“What?” Leigh asked.  

Keightlin gently squeezed his hand. “ANother time, Innocent. FOr now, we all need rest for finding the Blue Goddess tomorrow.”

The Bombers settled into an uneasy sleep, all but Leigh, filled with thoughts of Kieghtlin, warmed by the memory of her touch.


	16. Universe Without You

Ultima woke up with a sharp gasp, panting heavily as she blinked awake. She sat up, holding her knees to her chest as she looked out over the campsite, the bonfire having long since gone out. She stood up, walking over to sit in front of the fire, holding her hands over the fire. The embers of the old bonfire glowed weakly, spurred on by Ultima’s power.

Ultima sighed heavily, moving her hands back away from the fire, hugging her knees tightly. It was far too early for anyone to be awake, but Arin was up anyway.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hand, glancing up to find Ultima sitting by the dead fire. He shuffled over, plopping himself down beside her.

Ultima instinctively shifted over, laying her head on his shoulder. Arin wrapped his arm around her shoulder, sighing softly. “How are you?”

She thought for a moment, then looked up at him. “I’m..I’ll be fine.”

Arin bit his lip, looking over at her. “Ultima…is there, something you want to tell me or Dan?”

She tensed at that, looking down at the ground. “I-” Her skin glowed in fits and pops, lights cracking off her skin like popping oil. “I’m not sure if I can tell you, I don’t know what it is that i have to say!” She replied perhaps a bit too loudly, and Arin backed away from her a bit.

“Ultima, it’s okay, just tell me.” Arin whispered, clutching her shoulder with a reassuring touch.

She calmed greatly at that, looking at Arin. “I-It’s about what will happen to me after I collect the last goddess, I…” She looked down at her hands. “There’s something sininster there, and it has to do with the First God, but…” She looked back up at Arin. “I don’t know what’s in my future.”

“Ultima, none of us do.” He chuckled in relief. “You’re gonna be ok-”

“You can’t know that!” She stood up, hugging herself tightly. “These visions I’ve been having, ever since we got on this planet, I’ve…” She took a deep breath, steadying herself. “This other planet, Telos-it means something to what I’m supposed to be doing, I’m sure of it.” She turned back to Arin.

Arin absrobed this information, looking down. “Does it have to do with First?”

She bit her lip, nodding as she looked down. “Yeah.”

“He’s…he’s not going to disappear once you get the gems, is he?”

She looked up at him. “I can’t see past getting the blue goddess. It’s like the visions stop there, and can’t proceed from there.”

He bit his lip, then thought better of it and sighed heavily. Without warning, he pulled her close into his arms, enveloping her in his embrace. “Just…be careful. I know I don’t have to tell you this, but the universe would be void without you.”

She looked up at him, and was suddenly struck by the thought that she already felt like a void herself. 


	17. Blue Static (Where First Has Been)

They made their way up the side of the mountain slowly, the path narrowing down into a single file way. Ultima walked behind Keightlin as she led the line, the blue light from the top of the mountain becoming more and more evident the further they ascended the mountain.

“This is it.” Keightlin stopped when the path suddenly stopped, panning out into a small clearing of rough, uneven navy blue rocks. The shards of stone littered the ground like upturned knives, boulders dotting the ground here and there. At the furthest end of the clearing was the rough blue gemstone that had taken Keightlins’ arm, glowing as harmlessly as a lighthouse.

“I take it you won’t be able to just walk across it?” Arin asked from behind Ultima, looking over the cruel path to the blue goddess.

“I couldn’t when I came here. But Ultima can.” Keightlin nodded to Ultima, stepping aside to let her walk by.

When she started walking over the spiky rocks, they lifted from the ground, turning to create a flat path for her to walk towards to the glowing blue crystal. Ultima paused, watching the rocks turn for her before taking a deep breath, slowly making her way toward the glowing blue gem.

The rock sparked as she reached out to it, her fingers grazing it. Blue sparks showered out from the stone like wings, surrounding Ultima in its effervescent glow. The rock crumbled under her hands as the blue goddess spoke around them, her voice everywhere and nowhere withing Ultima’s mind..

“I suppose you deserve the truth now.” She spoke, her smooth voice echoing slightly around them.

Ultima shook her head, her eyes widening as she turned to the center of the clearing. “It can’t be the truth-about the First God, about me.” She denied the truth again.

The sparks formed into the shape of a woman, the Blue goddess turning to look at Ultima. “You are a complete being. We were creating a seventh goddess, a being that could create and destroy in one swoop, to correct their errors.”

“But creation and destruction couldn’t coexist in two extremes, could they?” Ultima asked.

The blue goddess shook her head. “Every goddess has these two sides: creation and destruction, as you saw with the Red Goddess. But once they are separated, it takes a stronger and stronger force to bring them together again. You and First, you are two halves of the final goddess.”

Ultima stood back, shaking her head. “Then where has he been? If he’s so desperate to reclaim his missing half, why hasn’t he been around for these last years?” She looked back up at the Blue goddess, not realizing that First was coalescing into shape behind her.

“That is because I don’t need you anymore.” First spoke up. Ultima whirled to him, noting again how his burned skin had healed, black hair growing into place where .

“The woman I saw you holding, who was she? Why did you-”

“I come asking for peace.” First spoke, eyes wide as he stared at her. “I don’t want to pursue any of your friends anymore, nor you. I’m content.”

Ultima was nearly speechless, but quickly remembered the young woman she saw in First’s arms. “And the woman I saw you holding?”

First narrowed his eyes at her. “She’s safe, she’s happy with me, I promise you.”

“Your promises are nothing to me, First, not after what you’ve done to the Bombers and I.”

First already began disappearing, his form melting into black smoke. “I’m done with this, our dispute is ended.”

Ultima grasped forward, trying to stop First from leaving. He slipped away, back to whatever planet he’d come from, leaving Ultima to turn to the blue goddess. “The First God and I might be from the same starstuff-”

The blue sparks surrounding her flew into Ultima’s head, and she gasped sharply, falling to her knees. “-but, I will never rejoin our powers.” She panted, collapsing onto the blue rocks as unconsciousness swallowed her. 


	18. Friendly Machines

The First God returned to Telos, his new home away from the Bombers, away from everything that he’d done, and back to Katelyn.

He found that he no longer cared about Ultima, about the goddesses, about anything save for Katelyns’ happiness. Whatever the Bombers were doing, he didn’t care.

—

Ultima awoke stumbling to her feet, blue smoke curling from her shoulders as she walked back towards the Bombers.

“What the fuck was that?” Arin asked, reaching out to Ultima as she approached him.

“It’s First, he’s healed himself.”

“Healed himself?” Ross quipped from the back of the line.

“He’s not burned anymore, he doesn’t look like a  living corpse.” Ultima replied, nervously playing with the end of her braid. “We have no reason to trust him, but he said that he was done with threatening us, that he wanted a truce.”

Dan shook his head, and Leigh rubbed his eye patch. “If he said it, and he’s healed, then wouldn’t it make sense for him to mean it?”

Ultima shook her head. “For now, he’s not a threat. For now, we wait until the sixth goddess chooses to reveal herself.”

—

The Bombers didn’t discuss much of what had happened to First, or Ultima on their way back to the Starbomb. They were more afraid than anything, especially Dan and Arin.

Dan was uneasy at the prospect of First having been able to heal himself so quickly, but he desperately wanted to trust that Ultime knew what she was doing. After everything they’d been through, she couldn’t afford to be wrong.

—

“I guess this is where we leave you.” Ultima spoke to Keightlin as they got ready to leave Cinner.

“You have to talk to Arin and Dan about this eventually. You know you can’t keep avoiding it.” Keightlin sighed, running her mechanical hand through her brown and blue hair.

“I’ll deal with it when I have to deal with it.” Ultima sighed. The two turned to the sound of Leigh’s footsteps padding down the ramp off of the Starbomb.

“Wait! I want to go with Keightlin!” Leigh stammered out before Ultima could ask him what he was doing.  

“Are you serious?” Ultima asked, turning back to see Keightlin grinning to herself.

“I’ll be fine! I promise, I’ve got my communicator and Keightlin will take me in, right?”

Ultima blinked, turning to Keightlin. “Are you okay with this?”

“I am. And besides, it would be nice to have someone to talk to on my ship besides myself.” Keightlin took Leigh’s hand, Leigh blushing deeply, overjoyed that she agreed to house him on her ship.

—

Ultima slept cuddled up onto Arin’s chest that night, sleeping dreamlessly for once. Then the Blue Goddess awoke within her, and she jerkily stood up, moving towards the hallway.

Ultima ran her hand along the wall, the electricity of Bary moving into her hands. Her eyes glowed with a deep blue light, Barry’s hologram taking note of this.

“Ultima, what are you-” He asked, reaching out to her. Ultima turned to him, and absorbed Barry’s technological presence into a glowing orb in her hands, holding the sparking electricity in her hands.

She sensed another electrical presence on board, turning to walk towards Holly and Ross’s cabin. With another burst of energy, Ultima sent Barry’s consciousness into Ross’s body. She pulled Ross’s consciousness out of metal and fiberglass and optic wires, sending the arching blue beam of energy towards Raptilia, towards Marks’ still sleeping body.

As Holly awoke, trying to shake Ross to consciousness, Ultima fainted to the floor of the cabin, the blue goddess retreating back into the gem on Ultima’s throat. 


	19. Rebooting

Jon had been getting ready for bed when he heard the screaming. 

It sounded like it was coming from the medical wing, and he made a mad dash toward the sound, blaster already strung across his waist.

For over five years, Mark had been kept in hibernation Ultima’s request, despite Jon’s insistence that it wasn’t necessary. Ultima would just chuckle, and tell him that Mark would wake up at some point, but it always seemed like she was biting her tongue when she said that.

“Holly!” Mark shouted, his cries getting louder the close Jon got to the medical wing. When the doors slid open, he was greeted to the sight of an extremely distressed Mark clutching his arms. He was dressed in a simple hospital gown, life support systems for humans and androids hooked up to his shoulders, wires swinging gently as Mark turned to stare at Jon.

“Where’s Holly?” Mark asked.

“Holly?” Jon repeated. “Mark, are you okay?”

“Mark?” Mark asked. “I’m Ross, why do you keep calling me Mark?”

Mark stumbled out of the bed, looking down at his legs, rubbing his hands along his arms. “I’m so swole now.” He muttered.

—

Arin woke up as soon as the alarm started blaring.The PA system onboard the Starbomb announced in a nasal, emotionless voice: LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS DOWN, over and over again.

“Barry!” Arin shouted, slamming on the wall of the ship. When he received no response from the technological spectre, he bolted out of bed, running to open the door to his cabin. It didn’t open automatically, Arin screeching in frustration. He pried his fingers between the doors, trying to force them open.

His screeching woke Ultima up, causing her to gasp.

“Why is the ship failing?” Barry asked, looking around the room.

“Ross! You’re okay!” Holly crowed happily.

“I’m not Ross, I’m Barry.” Barry protested meekly. Holly stood up, her attention diverted by the alarms going off in the ship. She launched herself over Ross, breaking into a full sprint out of her cabin to the bridge.

Once there, she hunched over the main control panel for the ship, tapping away at various buttons with an ardent fervor until the alarms finally stopped blaring. She took a deep breath, slumping back into a nearby chair.

A soft beep forced her head up to a nearby console displaying the words ‘INCOMING MESSAGE FROM RAPTILIA’ in bright blue.


	20. My Body Is My Own

Arin fell to the ground with a hard thump, growling in annoyance, his tail flicking behind him. “Barry! Where the hell are you?”

Barry ran down the hall, trapped inside of Ross’ body. “I’m right here, but I can’t leave Ross’ body.”

Holly walked down the hall from the bridge, staring at the now Barry possessed Ross. “We got a message from Raptilia.” She mumbled, moving to help Arin up. Ultima walked into the hall, rubbing her eyes.

“What did it say?” Arin asked, struggling to maintain his captain’s composure.

“Mark woke up and he-he started shouting for me.” Holly answered.

“Mark was shouting for you?” Barry asked.

“Yeah.” Holly stared at Ross, unnerved by the sound of Barry’s voice coming out of Ross’ mouth.

—

The Bombers set a manual course for Raptilia. With Barry trapped in a separate body, all the operations of the Starbomb had to be done manually.

Dan, Arin, Holly, Ultima, and Barry were all on the bridge, trying to make sense of what was happening.

“It was the blue goddess. Of that, I’m sure of.” Ultima started rubbing the glittering blue jewel planted in her neck.

“At this point,I’m willing to believe anything.” Arin sighed.

“How was she able to manipulate Barry and Ross to switch bodies?” Holly asked.

“Blue, maybe she can manipulate souls?” Arin posited.

“Not souls, but electric minds, presences.” Ultima clarified softly. “I…vaguely remember holding Barry in my hands before pushing him into Ross’ brain.”

Holly frowned at that, looking back and forth between Ross and Ultima. “Can you switch them back?” She asked.

Ultima bit her lip, looking down at her hands. “I’ll try. The blue goddess is the most willful of all of them. I can’t control her the way I can the others.”

—

When the Starbomb landed on Raptilia, Holly was greeted by an over-enthusiastic Mark hugging her tightly.

“Look at how muscly I am now!” Ros proclaimed happily, flexing his arms to show her.

“Very cool, Mar-Ross.” Holly chuckled, still trying to adjust to Mark acting like Ross.

—

“The real question here, though, is where Mark is.” Arin started, sitting across from Ultima as she watched Holly, Ross, and Barry talking.

“He should be in his own body, right?” Ultima asked, furrowing her brow. “When he erased his own memories, did that erase the rest of his memories as well?”

“Mark is an android, but he was human before everything else.” Arin reached out to hold Ultima’s hand.

“Our first goal would be to get Barry back into the Starbomb “We rely on him more than we realize.”

“Do we know anyone who specializes in this kind of thing? In restoring an android’s mind?” Ultima asked.

“I’ll look for someone. We might have a few contacts on Anfibar or Cinner.” Arin began. “In the meantime, talk to Barry and Ross. Try to figure out how they’re dealing with this.”

—

Barry ran Ross’ hand along the outside of the Starbomb, closing his eyes. He felt like he couldn’t connect to the ship the way he used to.

“Barry?” Ultima called, walking up to him.

“Hey Ultima.” Barry jumped, turning to her.

“Do you remember what happened the night I pushed your…soul into Ross’ head?”

Barry rubbed the back of Ross’ neck, closing his eyes. “You looked like you were possessed. There was this blue smoke curling off of you. When I tried to ask you what you were doing, you kind of…” Barry struggled to word what Ultima had done to him. “It was like you were holding me. Not like when I’m in a robot body, but it was more like you just gathered me up in your hands.”

“Was that scary?” She asked.

“I’ve just…never felt that small before.” Barry whispered. 


	21. Of Hearts and Hard Drives

“I know one mechanic on Anifbar,” Jon began, pulling open a holographic file on the main computer of the Starbomb. 

“Mel-Zara. Goes by Mel. She’s incredibly good with computers, and honestly, she’d be your best shot at restoring Mark’s memory drive.”

“Send off a message to her. Let her know that we’re on our way to get Mark back to himself.” Arin replied.

—

It would take about a day to fly to Anifbar. Ultima, Arin, Holly, Ross, and Barry came along. Ross was still trying to adjust to the feeling of having a heartbeat of sorts, but ignored it in order to impress Holly with his ‘swole’ muscles.

—

The Starbomb zoomed over an ocean of seemingly endless sapphire water, the azure monotony broken up by random islands of rock. Ultima looked down at the ocean of Anfibar, wondering where they’d land. The ship hummed softly as it approached a seemingly insignificant rock just large enough for the Starbomb to land on.

Once the Starbomb had fully docked, the four Bombers and Ultima left the ship, looking around the small rock that they had landed on.

Arin’s communicator beeped softly, and he looked down at his wrist to check it. “Mel-Zara said she’d be here pretty soon.”

“Uh, I don’t know if she knows this, but Ross and I can’t quite go into the ocean.” Barry gestured to himself.

Before Arin could respond, the water just along the shore line began to bubble, a large glass bubble emerging from the water. A submarine just barely larger than the Starbomb emerged from the water, blue lights winking along the edge of the outer edge of the submarine, clouds of steam hissing from the top of the port hole.

A small porthole opened on the top of the submarine, a young Anfibarian with teal skin emerging from the opening. “Are you the Bombers?”

“We are if you’re Mel-Zara.” Arin replied smoothly.

The Anfibarian nodded, grinning at them. She hopped out of the submarine, almost skipping over the water separating her from the shoreline as she approached them. “I can’t believe I get to meet you at last!” She grinned, her scales glowing faintly in the light of day. “Well, no time for hanging around. You came to me for help, so let’s get started!” Mel seemed to glow all the more brightly as she made her way back to the submarine.

Ultima let out a small sigh, grinning over at Arin. “You’ve gotten popular.” She observed.

—

Mel maneuvered the submarine back under water once the Bombers were all secure, gripping the controls in both hands. The view out of the bridge of her submarine revealed a complex underwater city, thousands of buildings made from the rocks they had seen on the surface.

Lights shone from the structures as the submarine glided between buildings, weaving through similar vehicles and a few Anfibarians, scuba diving or simply swimming through the water.

—

Mel-Zara’s workshop was a mess of wires and computer parts, nearly every possible surface clustered with old electrical equipment either in need of repair or ready to be sent back to prospective clients. Mel-Zara cleared off a table for Mark/Ross to lay down on.

“I’m just gonna put you through a couple diagnostic tests, ok?” She asked.

Mark/Ross nodded as Mel-Zara fiddled with a pane on the side of Mark-Ross’ face, inserting a small metal rod into the circuitry. She pressed on the rod, and blue status lights blinked along the length of the device. She plopped herself back onto the only chair free of equipment, looking up at the assembled Bombers.

“So how did this happen? On-ship AIs don’t go into androids as easily as you might think.”

“So there isn’t a precedent for switching them back?” Ultima asked, looking back at Ross/Barry.

Mel-Zara puffed air out of her mouth, her gills flapping wetly. Her face lit up with the beginning of a train of thought, turning to Ross/Barry. “Barry, you switch in and out of bodies pretty frequently, don’t you?”

Ross/Barry bit his lip, but nodded. “We have a couple robot suits on the Starbomb, but holograms are easier to make if I don’t need to be physically present.”

The metal rod in Mark/Ross’ head beeped. Mel-Zara sat up, gently removing the rod. She pushed the rolling chair she sat in over to a workbench covered in a multitude of screens in a variety of sizes.

The Anfibarian slid the rod into a nearby screen, unintelligible shapes and numbers flashing across the screen. Mel-Zara bared her teeth as she tapped at the screen, maneuvering through Mark’s coding with a practiced ease. “Well,” She began, spinning to face the Bombers again. “I can restore Mark’s mind, you know, his consciousness.”

“He erased himself-his memories, he forced himself into a coma.” Arin began.

Mel-Zara offered up a short chuckle. “He can force himself into a coma, alright, but his memories can’t be fully erased without admin permissions from the person who installed the robotic parts in him.”

“Commander Sara.” Ultima murmured.

Mel-Zara barrelled on regardless. “I can restore Mark right now, if you want.”

Ultima rubbed the blue gem on her neck, closing her eyes. “It wouldn’t be a good idea for Mark to come back while Ross is still in his body.” She opened her eyes to look at the Anfibarian. “Do you mind giving us the day to talk it over?”

“Sure!” She hopped up. “In the meantime, I’ve got to get you guys some dinner, at least.”

—

The Bombers ate a simple dinner of steamed fish and lightly salted water, something that Mel-Zara assured them was a delicacy.

Ultima appreciated the gesture, even if she was still adjusting to the feeling of eating fresh food that wasn’t synthesized again.

—

“So how does it feel to have a heartbeat?” Ultima asked Mark/Ross later that night.

Mark/Ross bit his lip, rubbing his hands together. “It’s not that weird, because, even before you switched me out, I was still warm.” He shrugged, looking down at her. “It’s okay, I guess.”

Ultima chewed on that thought for a moment. “You know, if you’re in Mark’s body, you and Holly would be able to live together.”

Mark/Ross tilted his head at her. “We already live together, what do you mean?”

“If you go back to your android body, you’d outlive Holly.” She clarified softly.

Mark/Ross looked away, rubbing his arms. “We never really talked about it before. I mean-we have but that’s so far ahead in the future, you know? It just never seemed real.”

Ultima took his hand. “When this is all over, I’ll see what I can do to help you with that, but…” She sighed. “It’s your choice which body you want to go into. When this business with the Goddesses is all done with, you and Holly should talk it over more. We can figure it out, I promise you.”

Mark/Ross nodded, then looked back up at her. “I want to go back into my own body.”

Ultima smiled thinly as the blue gem on her throat sparked to life, her veins pulsing with blue light. “Good choice.”


	22. Make A New Home

Mark opened his eyes, on his own, and glanced around at the glowing face hovering near him. “Why?” He asked softly, starting to sit up.

 “Why did you bring me back?”

“Hey, hey,” Mel-Zara bubbled, helping him sit up. “At least I brought you back!” She ran her hands along his metal arm, looking back up at the panel on Mark’s face. “Looks like your speech systems weren’t damaged. That’s awesome!” She preened, clearly pleased with herself.

Mark blinked at her, confused as to why she was being so kind to him. Did she not know who he was?

“So! Now for the question of the hour. What can you remember?” She leaned forward with her elbows on the table, grinning at Mark.

“Everything.” He sat forward, holding his head in his hands. “Everything I’ve done, I just…” Mel-Zara frowned, tilting her head at him. “I didn’t deserve to be brought back.”

Mel-Zara bared her fangs slightly at that, her gills fluttering in irritation. “Don’t be cruel to yourself.” She tapped at the panels on his face again. “You could have erased all your memories there. You could have erased yourself.”

Mark ignored that, opting to instead look around the unfamiliar workspace he’d awoken in. “How did my body get here?”

“Well, Ultima and some of the Bombers called on my when Ultima kinda, uh, switched Ross’ soul into your body, and Barry’s ‘soul’ into Ross.”

Mark stared at her, mouth falling open. “She can do that?” They both looked up at the sound of Ultima padding into the room, wisps of navy smoke curling around her head. She waved them away irritably, saw Mark staring at her, and grinned. “Oh good, it worked.”

—

“We can send your ship to you, if you want.” Arin told Mark outside the Starbomb. The sun of Anfibar created a harsh glare on the waves, bits of light throwing themselves against the side of Mark’s face.

“You don’t have to do anything for me anymore.”

Arin frowned, golden eyes narrowing at him. “Mark, what you did, the Delilah program, me,” He glanced back at the Starbomb, watching Holly and Ross talking, Ultima talking to a hologram Barry. He glanced back at Mark, placing a hand on his shoulder. “It led to better things, even if they initially started out in a fantastically fucking shitty place.”

Mark flinched, but smiled weakly at Arin. “I just,” He looked back at the submarine they’d come to the surface in, Mel-Zara sitting in the opening of the submarine. “Thank you for that. But, you know, uh, about my ship. You don’t have to fly it over for me. I’m gonna stay. Work with Mel-Zara, and just, figure out how to fix other beings again.”

—

Mark sat next to Mel-Zara in her submarine, the Anfibarian literally glowing with excitement. Mark exhaled softly, looking back out at the city under the ocean, at the submarines floating by the window, the Anfibarians swimming through the buildings around them. He knew, or at least felt, that he could make a new home for himself here.


	23. Send Us An Eyepatch, Send Us A Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well that can't be good, can it?

Ultima tossed another errant wrapper of food to the ground, missing the trash can by a mile. 

Her eyes stung from staring at the map before her, the holo-map of yet another galaxy. She yawned, tears building up in her eyes. She wiped them away, frowning at the map.

“Where are you, purple goddess?” She mumbled, closing her eyes. The gems on her neck glowed in sequence from red to blue as she focused in order to find the last of the goddesses.

But the glow faded away and Ultima sat back in frustration, wiping sweat from her forehead.

—

“It just doesn’t make any sense,” Ultima confessed to Dan that night. “The purple goddess is the last one, why would she take so long to show up?”

Dan mulled it over, biting his lower lip. “What did the Blue Goddess tell you when you absorbed her, back on Cinner?”

Ultima sat up, looking at Dan. “It was about First, basically…I,” She shook  her head, looking away. “You aren’t going to like what I have to do.”

Dan knelt in front of the bed, staring into her face. “Ultima, please, you have to tell me what’s happening to you, I need to know so that I-so that I don’t lose you, so that I can help you.”

There were tears in his eyes. “Dan, take a breath, ok?” She put her hand on his cheek. “I’ll tell you what will happen, okay?”

—

“You…you have to die?” Dan whispered, a slight lilt in his voice as it threatened to bubble into tears.

“Not exactly…I…have to find a way to kill First. But I can’t feel him, if that makes any sense.”

“Like, he isn’t in this galaxy?”

“Sort of. When he showed up on Cinner to say that he wasn’t going to fight us anymore, he didn’t look burned, or injured at all. He looked…healthy. Almost human. He had hair, Dan, and you remember what he looked like before.”

“Do you think he’s making himself more human?”

“Maybe. If I could just find him, and this…woman that I saw him with…”

“He kidnapped someone?”

“From what I could see, yes.”

Dan was quieted by that. “We have to find him.”

“I know that.” She rubbed the gems on her neck. “I know that.” She repeated more quietly.

—

Ultima had fallen asleep between Dan an Arin, their arms draped across her torso when the Blue Goddess awoke her again.

She pushed Dan and Arin’s arms off of herself, walking out of their cabin. Ultima walked ot the ViewDeck of the Starbomb, staring out at the stars

Blue light arched from the gem consuming Ultima’s body.

And suddenly she was hurtling through the stars, traveling to a large ship made of lapis lazuli. Therein slept a one-eyed clone and the cinner he was slowly growing fond of.

Ultima reached out to Leigh’s soul, and pulled.

—

Arin awoke to the sound of a frantic video message. Ultima was gone, and Barry was relaying a message to him.

“Arin, we have a message from Keightlin Jaxxa.” Barry played the video call.

“Leigh is dead, he’s-I don’t know…he won’t wake up-I-I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know-”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! I'm a beacon of sin.


End file.
